The Circus ABC

The Circus ABC
Kathryn Jackson ~ J.P. Miller ~ Golden Press, 1955

I've never seen one of these before, or at least I've never noticed what one was, but last week, I came across a "Little Silver Book".

I couldn't find much online about them except on a Golden Book's forum. From what I can tell (and stop me if I'm wrong), they were a spin off of the Little Golden Book series, fourteen titles in all. Looking around on eBay, it seems as if they were paperback reprints of popular LGB titles. This one, in particular, was written by Golden Book regular Jackson and illustrated by the always awesome J.P. Miller.

It's the alphabet, only circus-style.

F is a Fat Lady as round as a ball.
G is a Giant, a man nine feet tall.
H is a Horse with a dog on his back.
I is the Ice Cream that's good for a snack.

J.P.'s illustrations are so unique and wonderful that I'll always buy one of his books, even if my son has moved way past his ABCs. Cartoon Brew shared the eulogy from J.P.'s funeral written by his brother, and it's a moving tale of a great talent who first worked for Disney on such classics films as Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, The Reluctant Dragon and Saludos Amigos (one of my son's faves).


He went on to work with George Duplaix, the founder of Golden Books, to help change the landscape of children's literature forever. His Little Red Hen is still one of Golden's perennial best sellers. I know our home library wouldn't be the same without him!

Also by:
Lucky Mrs. Ticklefeather
Little Peewee
The Around the Year Storybook
The Little Red Hen
Little Galoshes
Jingle Bells
Pirates, Ships and Sailors

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